The Washington Capitals decided to hold Ilya Samsonov out of tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. According to the Washington Post’s Samantha Pell, Samsonov is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Slated to back up Braden Holtby, Samsonov yielded his spot on the bench to Vitek Vanecek, who was called up early this afternoon. Vanecek was recently named MVP of the 2020 AHL All-Star Game.
Ilya Samsonov is day-to-day, upper body, per team.
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) February 4, 2020
Samsonov took a shot to the head during the morning skate. The shot was from Alex Ovechkin.
“Uhhh, I would say accident,” Ovechkin said when asked what happened. “I’m pretty sure he’s a big boy. He’s fine.”
After doubling over in pain, a dazed Samsonov skated off the ice and into the locker room.
After practice, reporters saw Samsonov and he communicated that he was okay.
Samsonov is 16-3-1 on the season with a 2.21 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.
